Railway-tie tamper.



No. 759,359. PATBNTED MAY 1o, 1904.

N. FERGUSON. Y

RAILWAY TIE TAMPER.

, APPLIOATION FILED AUG.15, 1903. N0 MODEL.

r z V57 a 31A/vm JVah Fertgwsory, y

' Patented May 1o, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

NOAH FERGUSON, OF LAPAZ, INDIANA.

RAILWAY-TIE TAMPER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N0. 759,359, dated May 10, 1904.

Application led August 15,1903.

y of the United States, residing at Lapaz, in the lwhich the following is a speciiication.

My invention is an improvement in tampers and is designed especially for tamping ties on a railroad.

The object of the invention is to devise a tool oi' this character which will save time and labor. Heretotore plain bars have been used for tamping. A plain bar will only carry a limited amount of sand, loose dirt, or gravel under a tie and will pull more or less out.

The object of my invention is gained by constructing a tool which will carry more dirt or gravel under a tie than will be carried by a plain bar and will not pull as much out from under the tie in proportion to what it takes in, theref by enabling the workman to tamp a tie with fewer strokes than with a bar of the usual construction.

My invention consists of the novel features of construction and combination of parts hereinafter described, particularly pointed out in the claims, and `shown in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a perspective view showing the application of my device. Fig. 2 is a plan View, the central handle portion being broken. Fig. 3 is a side elevation; Fig. L is a face View of the end shown on the right in Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a perspective View.

My tamping-tool consists of a bar A, having the central offset portion A', the bar terminating at each end in a rectangular body portion B and B. Parallel grooves O are formed on opposite faces of these body portions and extend from the end of the body portion to a point adjacent the handle, the grooves having flat bottoms and vertical sides. V-shaped notches Dare cut into the outer ends of the grooves, the ends of the body portions between the grooves presenting bluntstriking-surfaces E, Vadapted to pack the dirt and gravel carried under the tie by thetool. rIhe grooves of the end -B are approximately one-half an inch deeper than those of the end Serial No. 169,648. (No model.)

B', the former-mentionedend being used when a considerable amount of earth is to be packed under a tie.

The odset A of the handle portion permits the tamper to be used in practically a horizontal position, as when tamping under the center of a'tie, without bringing the hands of the user in contact with the ground, thus obiating one of the main objections to a straight ar. Y

It will be obvious that the grooves will carry considerable dirt, sand, or gravel under the tie and that the amount carried under one stroke will be packed by the blunt ends E on the succeeding stroke. The notches D prevent the reduced portion formed by the grooves from striking and tearing the material previously packed. They also aid in guiding gravel and sand into the grooves/O.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, isH

l. A device of the kind described comprising a central handle portion terminating at each end in a rectangular body portion, said body portions being longitudinally grooved from their outer ends to a line adjacent the handle portion, and having notches formed in their outer ends in alinement with said grooves.

2. A device of the kind described comprising a central handle portion offset midway its ends, said handle portion carrying rectangular, longitudinally-grooved body portions at each end, the outer ends of said body portions having V-shaped notches therein in alinement with the grooves.

3. A device of the kind described vcomprising a handle portion offset midway its ends, and rectangular body portions formed integral with each end of the handle portion, said body portions being longitudinally grooved on opposite faces, and notched at the endsin alinement with said grooves. i

Y NOAH FERGUSON. V 

